Sweat Bees in Sourgrass Flowers

Dalantech · Post by **Dalantech** » Wed Apr 01, 2020 6:38 am

I've been trying to photograph Sweat Bees as they collect pollen from Sourgrass flowers but it hasn't been windy enough, so they can tell when I grab onto the flower's stem. Here's a couple shots of them leaving a flower after figuring out that I'm close.

Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (over 2x and 3x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC, second curtain sync). This are single, uncropped, frames taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI, Denoise AI, and Clarity in that order.

Sweat Bee in a Sourgrass Flower by John Kimbler, on Flickr

Sweat Bee in a Sourgrass Flower II by John Kimbler, on Flickr

Photographing this mating pair of Sweat Bees was tricky cause they weren't sitting still.

Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (over 2x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC, second curtain sync). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI, Denoise AI, and Clarity in that order.

Mating Sweat Bees by John Kimbler, on Flickr

hayath · Post by **hayath** » Fri Apr 03, 2020 1:51 am

Super color and texture on these!
Loved the fact that you opted for environmental portraits

Dalantech · Post by **Dalantech** » Fri Apr 03, 2020 2:10 am

hayath wrote:Super color and texture on these!
Loved the fact that you opted for environmental portraits

Thanks!

Shooting active subjects is the only thing that keeps me interested these days. The more difficult the shot the more satisfaction I get from nailing it.

MarkSturtevant · Post by **MarkSturtevant** » Fri Apr 10, 2020 6:36 pm

Excellent!

Dalantech · Post by **Dalantech** » Sat Apr 11, 2020 12:27 am

MarkSturtevant wrote:Excellent!

Thanks!

I've taken a couple more. Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (3x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC, second curtain sync). These are single, uncropped, frames taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI, Denoise AI, and Clarity in that order.

It's common for the bees to turn away from me when they come out of the Sourgrass flower. But I''m holding on to the flower's stem, so I can gently rotate the bee toward the camera without spooking the critter or damaging the flower:

Sweat Bee in a Sourgrass Flower III by John Kimbler, on Flickr

Sweat Bee in a Sourgrass Flower IV by John Kimbler, on Flickr